Monthly Archives: February 2015

It is always worth the hard work, dedication and the long wait. At long last my new Shodan graders received their official recognition from Japan. I am so very proud of each and everyone of you who have worked to hard for this grading. I present you with your shodan certificates – you deserve it!!!

Welcome to this second installment of “Down Under”, where I relate my 2014 martial-arts training experience whilst I was visiting Australia’s incredible Sunshine Coast, in the state of Queensland.

As I mentioned in part 1 of this 2-part series, I had been asked to go to Australia by my company and ended up staying there for 4 months. During the first 2 months of my trip, I trained with Shihan Martin Day of Combat Karate. As I mentioned in part 1, it had been an incredible experience to learn from him, but I needed to get back into my Shotokan training since I wanted to stay current with my techniques – especially since I was planning on going for my Shodan (1st Dan) grading in 2015.

As exhilarating the experience of new and different things had been when at Combat Karate, during my first 2 months, so exhilarating also was the feeling of familiarity upon entering the Shotokan Karate-Do dojo, located in Coolum Beach – one of the most beautiful places on the Australian Sunshine Coast.